What should a ranger NPC bring to the party?

[ericp07]

Hello,

 

In the interest of making my mod NPC ranger meaningful, I'd like to pick the brains of you good folk about her role in a BGII party. Imagine a female Sylvan Elf of 135 years of age in the BGII time period (year 1369 DR). She's lived all her life in the Cormanthor woods, and is familiar with its three regions, but not so much with the "civilized" settlements in it. She makes a living as a woods guide, and is well-versed in knowledge of nature, her local area, and dangerous beasts. She'd be considered unsophisticated by cityfolk, and is very outdoorsy. This ranger reveres Mielikki, the Supreme Ranger and Lady of the Forest, as do most rangers in the Realms. Indeed, she is a priestess (called a Needle), and has dedicated her adventuring life to fighting those who serve Mielikki's greatest opponent: Malar, the Beastlord, the lesser deity of the hunt, evil lycanthropes, bestial savagery and bloodlust.

 

Given this information, how much of an asset might this character be to an adventuring party? She's handy with a bow, but much prefers to fight with a scimitar in one hand, and a battleaxe in the other. If I'm successful in creating a kit for her, the way I envision it, she'll have a bonus to saves against spells (divine spells, if that can be distinguished from arcane), the ability to lay on hands (supposed to be only for followers of Mielikki, but I don't think it's possible to limit it that way), a Smite Infidel ability (add CHA bonus to attack creatures who don't follow Mielikki, and +5 to damage; again, I don't think this can be specified), and Divine Wrath (+3 to hit, damage, and saves for a number of rounds equal to CHA bonus, once per day). If the Needle kit materializes for this mod, it will likely turn out a bit differently, due to the way the engine works. Ideally, it will include some new spells as well.

 

What, if anything, might be added to the character's capabilities to make her desireable--in a functional sense--over and above a "generic" ranger, in keeping with her character make-up? I open the floor to discussion, should anyone be interested in contributing

 

Thanks,

Eric

[Kulyok]

Removing +3/+5 weapons from her?

[berelinde]

I'd be curious why an elven ranger/cleric from Cormanthor would worship Mielikki when one of the Seldarine might serve her better. The elves of that region are xenophobic, moreso than many other areas, and you might need to do some fast talking to explain why a rather isolated elf would worship a human deity.

 

Sehanine Moonbow would be a good choice, if you went with an elven NPC. Or you could do a half-elf, and pick the deity of your choice, human or otherwise.

 

I'd worry about the personality first, details like weapons, kits, or even quests(!), later. After all, you're building a person, not a skillset.

[ericp07]

I'd be curious why an elven ranger/cleric from Cormanthor would worship Mielikki when one of the Seldarine might serve her better. The elves of that region are xenophobic, moreso than many other areas, and you might need to do some fast talking to explain why a rather isolated elf would worship a human deity.

 

Sehanine Moonbow would be a good choice, if you went with an elven NPC. Or you could do a half-elf, and pick the deity of your choice, human or otherwise.

 

I'd worry about the personality first, details like weapons, kits, or even quests(!), later. After all, you're building a person, not a skillset.

 

The character is a single-class ranger. Mielikki is worshipped by Humans, Elves, Half-Elves, and Dryads alike. Her father, who was a druid, worshipped her, as does her mother, a retired ranger. I haven't fleshed out their backstories, but for now I'll say that some significant event or events prompted this, and their daughter followed suit as they raised her. These Elves have been interested in establishing Mielikki's presence in Cormanthor, as traditionally her strongest power base has been within the High Forest. This would be a way to expand her influence through her faithful.

 

As for the fear and avoidance of outsiders, this character's curiosity has always gotten the better of her, for better and for worse As an adventuring ranger, her mother learned a bit of tolerance for those who would travel through the woodlands, yet respect and not deliberately harm them. Alliances with rangers of other races encouraged her, over many years, not to prejudge sometimes, but rather to give people the opportunity to hang themselves (or not) through their actions.

 

At the end of the day, this particular character has a desire to spread Mielikki's loving care for the flora and fauna of the forest, to curb poaching and to encourage environmentally friendly ways of using natural resources. She feels the natural wonders should be enjoyed by all who respect them. She feels duty-bound by her faith to act as a woods guide, as she's intimately familiar with the pathways through Cormanthor, and wants to ensure that travelers stick to these paths whenever possible.

 

The character is one I've played in PnP games, starting back in 2nd edition AD&D rules and later revised to 3.5e rules. Hers may be an extraordinary story, in some ways, but such is often the case with player-characters. The tragic loss of her father was a great influence on the decisions she's made regarding her adult adventuring life.

 

I hope this addresses and explains the character a little better.

 

Thanks,

Eric

[ericp07]

Removing +3/+5 weapons from her?

 

Those are not weapons; they're abilities that are applied over and above any weapon bonuses, powers granted to divine champions by their patron deities. In 2nd edition D&D, the rangers who are specialty priests of Mielikki are simply rangers. This, to me, is a waste of a kit. When 3rd edition introduced the concept of Prestige Classes (instead of kits), I found that the Divine Champion was most suitable to take the place of the old specialty priest kits. So, IMC, I tailored the Divine Champion to suit various deities, sometimes adding spells, and always granting proficiency in the deity's favored weapon. Sets of skills are also tailored to the deity in question, but that's less important to BGII than to PnP D&D.

 

- E

[Guest Fading Echo]

Even still, that strikes me as rather munchkin-y. Not much cheese, but giving her an arbitrary +3/+5 damage bonus doesn't make much sense. Good examples for rangers are Sarah and Kivan-they're "generic" rangers, but very much worthwhile characters as *characters*, not powergaming npc's. Darian over at SHS has a few extra abilities normal rangers don't have, but they're minor. I say concentrate on making your *character* first, then worry about how she'll fit into a powergaming party.

[ericp07]

Even still, that strikes me as rather munchkin-y. Not much cheese, but giving her an arbitrary +3/+5 damage bonus doesn't make much sense. Good examples for rangers are Sarah and Kivan-they're "generic" rangers, but very much worthwhile characters as *characters*, not powergaming npc's. Darian over at SHS has a few extra abilities normal rangers don't have, but they're minor. I say concentrate on making your *character* first, then worry about how she'll fit into a powergaming party.

 

You have a valid point. It occurs to me that backwards-engineering a 3rd edition PrC into a 2nd edition kit may result in an overpowered character. OK, so I see two courses I could follow for reflecting this ranger's connection with her patron deity: 1) don't give her any special abilities, but maybe add one or a few spells; 2) create a modest kit for ranger priests of Mielikki (not to be confused with cleric/rangers) that would be fairly even in power to other kits. Perhaps option #1 is the better choice (it would certainly be easier to work into the mod, I think).

 

As for character development, there's plenty, as she has an established personality and outlook, and I want her to have a good deal of interesting interaction with other characters, without distracting from the game action to the point of annoyance

 

She will have at least one quest into which she'll draw the party, and it won't conflict with or compromise any of the party's other goals. I want her to first appear in a wilderness area, but not in Umar Hills, and early enough in the game that she may adventure with the party for a good long time, if they wish to keep her around.

 

This is the character named shae`lina Hawkwind. I'm going to have to scale her class level and ability scores down a bit, but not sure yet by how much. Is there an average class level that joinable NPCs have attained when they first join a party?

 

Thanks,

Eric

[berelinde]

You're missing the most obvious way to show her devotion to Mielikki: bring it into her conversation with other characters. You could make her up as a plain ranger, straight out of the box, without a single special ability that was unavailable to other rangers in the game, and you could still manage to convince you players that she was devout, just through dialogue.

 

I think, Eric, that perhaps you might have been influenced by Chloe's weapons and connection with her goddess mother. I wouldn't necessarily emulate that model. I'm not all that thrilled with Darian's special abilities, either, and have said so before on his forum, firstly because I don't really go for NPCs that have more abilities than a PC of that level, class, and alignment could have, and secondly because I think they take the focus away from the personality of NPC.

[BigRob]

I believe that those abilities are short-lived limited use abilities, such as a monk's stunning fist, or a paladin's protection from evil. How balanced they are depends on their duration and how many times they can be used in a day (once according to the write-up in the original post), I would think. A blanket +3/+5 damage would be monstously out of balance.

 

That said, it might be nice to come up with something to balance out the Lay on Hands, Smite Infidel and Divine Wrath powers, at the moment it seems all she gets are bonuses. If she's given no special equipment this might balance her out over a standard BG2 NPC, who usually recieve something funky over and above standard issue members of their class.

 

 

 

 

The character is a single-class ranger. Mielikki is worshipped by Humans, Elves, Half-Elves, and Dryads alike. Her father, who was a druid, worshipped her, as does her mother, a retired ranger.

Elven druids are illegal in second edition, so this in itself also requires some explanation, though it might tie in with the notion of why the family worships a human deity. I agree that an elven deity might be better, but I do vaguely recall that Mielikki was reasonably friendly with the elven pantheon back in 2nd Ed, though whether or not they tolerate full elven worshippers of her is another (I'd have to check the books). They certainly don't betweent the respective goddesses of love, which says something.

 

But the existing background, a family tradition of involvement with human civilisation and a highly curious nature work for this.

 

 

 

I would also go more on background and character development to start with, and let the items and abilities flow out of that. However, in terms of what I expect a ranger to bring to a party, I pretty much view them as second-line damage dealers, the dual weilding brings them near base fighters in terms of damage output, but the lighter armour (if they're rearing it) makes them a little more vulnerable to injury. The spells also make them useful, but they're not backbone party members.

[Icendoan]

For you, perhaps.

 

Would you say Minsc isn't a backbone party member?

 

Icen

[G-Mon]

Well, Minsc is a "special" case.

[ericp07]

I do favor the character herself far above anything "special" that I could attach to her. Thinking about her weapons...coming out of the gate with three weapons of maximum enchantment may indeed unbalance her in overall power level. I could give her more modest versions, and use the scimitar, bow, and battleaxe as quest rewards. That would be a way to delay her taking possession of them. As for rules concerning race/class restrictions, all the game rules are guidelines. Nothing is written in stone, though some deviations are rare. It could be that shae`lina's father worshipped one of the Seldarine, but her mother absolutely reveres Mielikki, and was a priestess/champion of that goddess by the end of her adventuring career (both parents are purely part of shae`lina's backstory, and were never player characters themselves).

 

Thanks for stimulating more thought about all the details, and please keep the ideas flowing! At some point, I'll post shae`lina's complete bio, probably as it will appear in-game. Her dialog throughout the game will reflect her faith, personality, and outlook, as well as her goals and interest in the party.

 

- E

[ericp07]

Not all of this information is useful in-game, but I'm sure there will be ways to work some of it into dialog and/or flavor text...

 

Life in the forest has allowed shae`lina to develop a high degree of skill in climbing, concentration, handling animals, healing, hiding, and jumping; knowledge of her local region of Cormanthor, or nature, and of dangerous beasts of the forest; listening, moving silently, searching, and spotting; working as a woods guide for travelers, riding, and swimming. She learned to read and write the languages she speaks: Elven, Common, Sylvan, Orcish, Draconic, and Chondathan (a speech known in her home region). She's expert in forest survival, as she's lived in the woods all her life. She's reluctant to leave the comfort of the forest, but her strong curious nature sometimes helps her to overcome this reluctance, and set out past the tree line, to see what lies beyond...especially if there are more wooded areas to explore, and more opportunities to serve her patron deity.

 

She keeps a personal journal with her at all times, and spends some time, at the end of each day, reflecting on and recording the events of that day. Her writing style is short and to the point, and she includes plenty of sketches among her pages, especially when she finds plants or animals she's never encountered before.

 

Her training and service as a ranger has developed in shae`lina a fearlessness tempered with caution. She's likely to draw weapons and charge an owlbear (how come those aren't in BGI/II?), but knows better than to engage an adult dragon without serious back-up. She strives to help maintain a balance in nature between order and chaos, and is a champion of good against evil, protecting flora and fauna and encouraging them to flourish while seeking to thwart malevolent creatures' efforts to disrupt or destroy whatever ecosystem she finds herself in at the time.

 

It may have been a dream, inspired by Mielikki, that prompted shae`lina to undertake the greatest journey of her life to date: to travel far to the west, exploring many different environments and encountering unimaginable (to her mind) peoples and creatures as she sought the wilderness areas in the region of Amn. As she's never been inside a settlement larger than a town (that being Tilverton), she will not know what to make of a major city, but she will certainly consider it unnatural and distasteful. Should she ever find herself traveling on water or underground, she'd no doubt feel the same way; Elves are not at all fond of either. On land, any non-wooded area will at first appear wrong to her, but then she'll want to explore and examine the terrain, flora, and fauna, to better understand various natural environments.

 

Just a bit more detail on shae`lina Hawkwind, the ranger

 

Enjoy,

Eric

[theacefes]

Would it be wrong if I asked why her first name isn't capitalized?

[Gabrielle]

That is very interesting. Rangers are great.